Monday, October 3rd

Harper woke up yodeling this morning.
Harper, "I'm hodeling."
Ava, "it's yodeling."
Harper, "You say yodeling, I say hodeling."

Our car rolled over 100,000 miles. Ono brought us a bird. We dropped off Harper at school. Ava and I came home and made my favorite breakfast: smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, Cherokee tomato and gluten-free toast. Then, we made some tomato sauce with our last of the summer, tomatoes. The smell of that sauce cooking was incredible. I wish I could bottle it. We spent some time with our "sweet kitties". I worked on bills, calendar, passports, getting organized, blah blah blah. I finally found Ava's birth certificate.

After school, we went to a play date at Talulah and Matilda's house. The girls were having too good of a time, because when it was time to leave Ava and take Harper to dance class- Harper flipped out. It was the second worst tantrum I've seen from her. She unbuckled herself while I was driving. I had to pull the car over. She was screaming, "I love Ava. I loved her when I was a baby. I loved her when I was one. I loved her when I was three. I loved her when I was two. I will love her when I am seven. I will always love her!!"
At this point, I was ready to call it a day. There was no way we were going to dance class. Harper fell asleep within ten minutes.
Monday is also our Saxapahaw Show Choir day. We grabbed a pizza at Whole Foods ($9.99 on Mondays). We picked up Colin at the bus stop at 6:30, and rushed to Saxapahaw by 7:00. My sweet family was upstairs having pizza while we rehearsed. The upstairs coffee shop is also a balcony that overlooks the Ballroom. And at the end of rehearsal, we sang "I Was Here" on the stage. This was our first time on the stage, and everyone sang a bit louder.
In the photos: Ono is at the door, Flora is on the chair in the double decker kitties photo.

Sunday October 2nd

We went to the Friends Meeting this morning. The girls sat in silence for the first fifteen minutes. I had to help Harper sit in silence, by doing a little cross stitch with her. I helped assist in the Kindergarten-2nd grade class. We talked about SPICE, which is an acronym for Quaker beliefs. It stands for: simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality. Then, we read Horton Hears a Who, and tried to find examples of "spice" in the story. After meeting, there was a potluck, ice cream, and a small yard sale benefiting Quaker House. Quaker House was founded by a member of our Meeting, Chuck Fager. Quaker House is located in Fayetteville, NC, and is a resource for GIs who have second thoughts about serving in the military. http://quakerhouse.org/
Harper found a yoga mat for Flora, our cat, and a potato masher.
After Meeting, we went to Whole Foods. We go on most Sundays to buy the rotisserie chicken special. We ran into Louise Jarvis. It was nice to catch up for a few minutes. Ava enjoyed meeting someone from my high school. We had a chicken dinner with mashed potatoes (tried our new potato masher) and green peas. Above is a picture of Flora with her yoga mat, and some doodles Colin made with Harper. Good Sunday.

Saturday October 1st

It was cold when we woke up. Ava has been saving a pack of hot cocoa that was given to her by Katherine and Sarah, on our camping trip (Sept 11th). She wanted to wait until the first day of October, and it was the perfect morning for a cup of hot cocoa. Ava asked Harper, "Harper, do you know what today is?" "It's the first day of October." "Do you know what that means?" "It means we are closer to Halloween!"
Colin fixed the toilet, the water dispenser in the fridge, and the door to the laundry room (all before he even read my blog). And, he cut the corners of the lawn that I missed, cleaned the shed, and went to the Farmer's Market. Our kitty, Ono, kept sniffing around the clean shed, as if to say, "what's going on here?" Colin met my "egg man" I've been telling him about. http://www.localharvest.org/turtle-hills-farm-M32485
Honestly, the best eggs we've eaten. Ava will no longer eat store-bought eggs. She says, "they aren't bright enough."
We planted an orange cauliflower, salad mix, brussels sprout, and broccoli. And, we picked the last of the basil?
We had tickets to Stephen Malkmus at the Saxapahaw Ballroom, where children get in for free. We were trying to figure out the time of the show and whether or not that would work. When I got a text from our friend Jenae. Jenae: "What size shoe does Harper wear? Or, should I say what size pink cowgirl boot?" The shoes were too small, but I asked if she wanted to take our children for a few hours. And, she was willing. And, she was at a park in Hillsborough at the time. I said, "you can go to the park, and come home with a couple extra kids." Thank you so much Thomas and Jenae. This is the photo she sent to me, during the show.
Colin and I had a date night. I wore my very Mod, vintage "Star Trek" dress with black angle boots. We stopped to photograph an amazing sunset on Teer Road. And, we had enough time to share a local, goat burger from Sax General Store. I can't say enough good things about Saxapahaw. The Ballroom is a beautifully, renovated space with incredible acoustics. You can view the stage from three different floors. We ran into a lot of friends we hadn't seen in a while. The photo above shows one of the original dye vats from the old Saxapahaw mill, in front of the stage. I was taken in by Stephen Malkmus, with his silly banter and all. He did a cover of "Brandy" and "Wild Thing". It was a memorable night.

Friday September 30th

Colin is working from home today, because Michaelmas begins at 4:00!
Michaelmas Elisabeth Pressel

The festival of the Archangel Michael, he who vanquishes the dragon and conquers him falls in late September. There are many different legends of Michael from cultures all over the world. He played an important part in the ancient Hebrew culture and legends about him exist in the Persian and Indian cultures. He has played an important part in Christianity from its earliest times.

Michael, with his sword hammered from the light of the stars, fills us with new- found courage to meet the difficult times. At times it seems that these difficulties will overwhelm us, and all around us we see a world in pain and struggle. In some ways it has always been this way, but now we are more conscious of it than ever before. Every distant war and catastrophe enters the intimacy of our home through newspaper, radios or television screens. We are united with the events of the world in a way that never before existed. We see it all. We are aware of it all and a deep-set fear can enter our being, a fear that we will not have the strength to overcome these manifestations of darkness, that we will not have the capacity to restore the balance of light. It is here that Michael plays such an important role in our modern times. He symbolizes courage, and encourages us in our struggle to overcome our fears and do good upon the earth.

Harper is the first to wake. She has figured out how to use the Roku remote, and watches Shaun the Sheep. Colin starts to work, Ava is reading in her room, and I sleep in. We get a late start on breakfast. I offer to make gluten-free pancakes and breakfast sausages. My family loves pork. Harper has had to wait too long to eat and she has a melt-down. We work it out, and Ava helps by making paper chains with Harper. They say the paper chains will be decorations for Harper's birthday party. Ava writes on one of the chains, "Harper- Kind, Funney, Nice". FYI, Bob's Red Mills gluten-free pancake mix is the best one we've found.
We listen to the Stevie Wonder station on Pandora, which plays other artists like The Jackson 5, Lionel Ritchie, Marvin Gaye... The Jackson 5, "I Want You Back" comes on, and Harper screams. Michael Jackson still brings so much joy with his music.
Checking in on facebook, we see Aaron and Jessica's new puppy, Marley. Oh my, what a cutie. Our old Carrboro neighbor Rebecca, who now lives in Asheville with husband James, and sons London and Micah- is in labor with twins. We're sending her and hers, well wishes.
More weeding and planting lillies. The lily cutting garden has been an on-going project. But, October is a better time to transplant.
Ava separated the red, green tomatoes and peppers from the last of the summer harvest. Looks like we can make one last batch of sauce. We're taking our green peppers and others carrots for the Michaelmas soup tonight.
The toliet upstairs won't stop running. The water dispenser on the fridge has a hole in it. We have three broken weed eaters. Oh, home ownership. I'll take it.
Michaelmas was a huge success. I exhausted my battery before we found the dragon. I'll post a photo of the dragon soon. The top photo is of Harper with the felted mouse and apple she made. There is a great song to go along with the puppets. The temperature started to drop, as we headed home. Autumn is in the air. It was so nice to sleep with the window open last night.

Thursday September 29th

I love our extra family time together, in the car to the Park and Ride. This morning the girls wanted to listen to classical music. Classical music always reminds me of Grandma Mary. Tchaikovsky Slavonic Marche, Opus 31 was on the radio. The girls created an amazing story to go along with the music. There were Fall fairies painting leaves, collecting acorns, and marching. All of a sudden, the fairies see a giant squirrel. The fairies decide to throw their acorns into the mouth of the squirrel.
Home from the Park and Ride. We rush to get dressed and brushed. I quickly make McCann's three-minute Irish oatmeal (a favorite of Ava's). I'm starting to see an Irish connection here. We recently received a box of hand-me-downs from Lily. The girls love the scent of her clothes. They have been begging me to find Nicki's detergent. It is still 80 degrees here, but Harper wants to wear Lily's cold-weather clothes. She starts to feel hot and changes her mind. I quickly pack her lunch with extra carrots (it's Soup Day at school). We gather our leftover bread from Margaret's Cantina for the chickens and ducks- and we're out the door. Galen one of the new "babies" at school wore a "cucumber hat" yesterday. Harper had the exact same hat as a baby. I gave her a picture of herself in the hat and she took it to show Galen.
We arrive at Little Gnome and the apple press is waiting in the front yard. Big excitement ensues!
Mimi and Papa are in upstate New York. They have been sending postcards to the girls, some of large estates. The girls jokingly argue over which is their pretend house.
I go to My Secret Closet with Ava, and drop off an antler chandelier that Dad gave me, to sell. I fell for a kitchen table set, which is the last thing we need. But, I would love to have an extra one for a dinner party in the backyard. A long farmhouse-style table would be better.
Lunch at Weaver St.
Ava:"I love Disney's Sorcerer's Stone, it's my favorite." "I love that when Merlin changes into different animals, he stays blue and always has his glasses." Me:"Yeah, Nicki and Lily love that one, too."
We bought some Chapel Hill Creamery, Hickory Grove cheese, an absolute favorite for the girls. I was reminded of something Ava said the other day, "Mom, you have two choices. Come to the dark side we have cookies. Come to the good side we have cheese." Me:"Which would you choose?"
Ava: "The good side if it was Hickory Grove cheese."

Leaving Weaver Street, Ava sees a pair of neon green Converse high tops. She says, "I love them, that is my favorite color."
We pick up Harper at school. Rebecca found a Hanna Anderson sweater for Harper. Brand new at the thrift for $1. It has the Swedish wooden horse icon on the front, which reminds me of Nicki.
Ava rode with me on the lawnmower to cut the grass in the front yard. No problems or injuries. Ava was a great help weeding and cutting back the mostly dead, hanging ferns. I really hope they come back. While weeding I pull a roundish leaf, that I haven't seen before. An hour later, I'm reading the Carrboro Citizen where the Dollar leaf is written about in the Flora section. I'll be on the look out for it, now.
http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main/2011/09/29/flora-dollar-leaf/
We rush to Girls on the Run, a little late. Ava said they talked about emotions today, and ran 1.25 miles. Harper and I go downtown to the Post Office. We see the scarecrows out, for the Orange County Historical Museum scarecrow contest. We're not sure whether or not it is too late to enter the contest. But, we start talking about ideas for scarecrows. We pick up Ava and take her back to see the scarecrows. I have an idea, there is golden rod everywhere. Me: "What if we get a bunch of golden rod to make big blonde hair on the pumpkin (all of the scarecrows have pumpkin heads). Ava says, "I've got it! It can be a 1970s scarecrow with a blonde afro!" Me:"Yes, we just need a 1970s jumpsuit." Ava: "We will definitely win with a 1970s scarecrow."
We rush to meet Julie (Tegan's sister). I'm off to work.
I work as an expeditor in the kitchen, plating lots of desserts. Here is a picture of our new nut pie. Laurie says, "You're a nut pie." I say, "I know."
Colin and the girls pick me up from work. It's an uneventful drive home, no wildlife to speak of. And, I'm off work for the next four days! We entered the Whole Foods contest trip to Costa Rica, on the last day. Fingers crossed.

Wednesday September 28th

We were talking about apples in the car, on the way to the Park and Ride. Harper says, "only pick the red ones." I say, "you know who likes the green apples?" "Mamaw and Papa." "Mamaw likes to cut the green apples into small bite-size pieces, and put them on top of her oats for breakfast." Harper: "We had popsicles at Mamaw's, and cookies." Ava: "Mamaw has sugar-free popsicles." Me: "That's because she has diabetes. " Harper: "Mom, do you have diabetes?" Ava: "No, Mom doesn't have diabetes. She just likes to eat salads."
I called the Efland apple orchard. They are organic, but all the apples are gone. Note to self, pick apples earlier next year.
Ava finished reading, Judy Moody Around the World in 8 1/2 Days, while I finished making gluten-free crust. Good jokes from the book- What are the seasons? Salt, pepper, ketchup, and mustard. How does dew form? When leaves sweat.
We finished the muscadine pie, most labor intensive pie I've ever made. We peeled and seeded 4 lbs. of muscadines. We have enough filling for an extra small pie. Delish! I loved making this pie with Ava. She was really helpful.
We picked up Harper from school, and brought a little pie filling to share. Mixed reviews: two mothers don't like muscadines. All of the kids liked it except for Rowan, who thought it was tart. The children were excitedly talking about Michaelmas, and the dragon hunt.
We came home and made piggies in a blanket. Harper came over to me while I was working with the dough, and said, "I love you." She tells me this all the time. I like to take note of what we're doing when she feels the need to say it. Ava added cinnamon and sugar to the dough scraps.
We pulled the tomato plants out of the summer garden. Ava had a lot of fun pulling up plants. I cut the grass in the backyard. Ava wanted to ride on the lawnmower with me, until Harper discovered Disney channel on Roku. I wanted to show Ava that riding the lawnmower was more fun than Disney music videos. So, I started making figure 8s in the backyard, and ran over the water hose. I can see my parents rolling their eyes, right now.
Jump in the shower. Tegan arrives to cook dinner, Irish banger sausages (the girls' favorite). And, I'm off to work. While driving to work, Roy Orbison was playing on the radio. I look down at my hands, still slightly soiled from gardening. I see my Dad's thumbs in my thumbs.
I waited on violinist extraordinaire, Jennifer Curtis and friends. We saw Jennifer perform an original piece on UNC campus a few months ago. Terry was with us, and can attest to her genius.
Colin and the girls picked me up after work. Ava was still awake and her dogs were barking, so I gave her a little foot massage- and she fell asleep. Colin was rushing to get home and on Ode Turner he had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting two raccoons. We have a lot of wildlife near our house; several deer, two bucks, a fox, opossums, and now two raccoons have been spotted.

Tuesday September 27th

Both the girls are under the weather with the sniffles. Harper stays home from school. In the car on the way to the bus stop, Ava: "Harper, don't breathe on me! Your breath is horrible! Harper:"I can smell your toe breath, and it's Horrible!"
The early morning consists of Shaun the Sheep, some black elderberry, and BBQ. Our children love pork. After a nice bubble bath, we snuggle in the "big bed" and read "Sniffles for the Bear." This series of children's books by Bonny Becker is my new favorite. Harper says to me, "I like your smile to my smile."
I finished putting the seeds in the freezer. We listened, sang, and danced to a whole lot of music on Pandora.
We take Ava to Girls on the Run at 4pm. She is feeling much better and is able to run 1 mile. I swam with Harper, hopping across the pool, humming the tune to the Smurfs. After our swim, waiting for Ava, Harper decides to try running. I say jokingly, "Are you going to run a mile?" Harper takes off running around the building. Ava's coaches got a good laugh out of Harper's eager attempt at running and stretching after. We rush to get home to meet Tegan, our babysitter. And, I'm off to work. I waited on Ruby Sinreich and some friends as they celebrated the 8th anniversary of her blog, Orange Politics.